jim, what's the latest? >> reporter: hi, there, tamron, well, that meeting you referred to was indeed brief, kerry did urge lavrov to have direct talks. that seems to be an important theme now, unifying this swirl of activity. it was their first face-to-face since the ukraine crisis escalated. that is just one example of this, again, this flurry happening over the past 24 hours, tamron, the chances of avoiding war in ukraine seem to have gotten a boost from vladimir putin's comments. yesterday if you recall, he said he saw no need for the use of force in ukraine, had no desire to annex the crimean peninsula, and really that's a sigh of relief has been resinating in the international financial markets, including here in russia in moscow after historic drops on monday. that's just one example. the perception today, tamron, is that ukraine is spinning now not towards war, but some kind of diplomatic solution. in addition to kerry/lavrov meetings, more importantly, you've made reference to it, the meeting betwee